i am in newark new jersey jumping on beds. this, after working all day at the newark museum, looking at old firefighting relics and simulating a virtual inferno with ceiling-mounted club lights. all this with just 2 hours of sleep last night. within the past 48 hours i've slept a total of 4 hours. how i'm still standing is a modern day miracle. the free internet access at the robert treat hotel (where i'm staying, a best western affiliate) is spotty at best. i spent the last 30 minutes trying to hack into some of the other laptops attached to the wireless router with zero success. the room is small but still big enough to fit two full-sized beds. a wall-mounted flatscreen television further saves on space. the walls are thin though, and i don't dare make too much noise since my traveling partner business associate has the room adjacent to mine. i am on the 8th floor, looking across military park at some nondescript tall buildings and a few old churches. newark looked scary during the daytime, so i probably wasn't going to go out alone at night.

a blueberry muffin and a small hot chocolate was my logan airport breakfast. we went to a nearby subway (crowded with rutgers students) for a quick lunch. i got the foot long sweet onion chicken teriyaki on wheat bread with hot peppers (most delicious). i had dinner with mark at the posh maize restaurant on the first floor of this 3-stars hotel. the waiter served us a free dish of sarcasm when we both ordered water. "tap water? from new york?" i got the peppercorn steak with garlic mash potatoes and asparagus (of course at $26 a plate, it was named something else entirely fancy and overpriced). for dessert, ginger crème brûlée. waking up early tomorrow for breakfast before going back to work.

hopefully tonight i'll get more than 2 hours of sleep. but it'll have to wait until after i had a good soak in the bathroom. no bubble bath? i'm never coming back.